Note: To those who are unfamiliar, these social distancing “walks” are not in-person walks but rather a group chat where members share their experiences for the morning and stay connected. South Shore Bird Club is strict about (and very impressed by its members) adhering to social distancing guidelines, which includes avoiding populated areas, large groups, and close social interaction. We fully support members enjoying the healing and mindfulness that nature can provide and want to foster a social environment for those who may feel isolated-these walks are intended to achieve both of these goals with safety at the forefront of our mission.
Saturday proved to be a beautiful day for all manner of nature appreciation. Glenn kicked it off the by jumping on a BBC trip to
Daniel Webster where they had Eastern Screech Owl. Carol headed to Gooseberry Island in Westport for a stellar day of birding
with 44 species, including an impressive number of warblers - Black and White, American Redstart, Magnolia, Common
Yellowthroat, Tennessee, Black-throated Green, and Cape May - in addition to Dickcissel, Baltimore Oriole, and 18 Red-breasted
Nuthatches. While Nate was out and about, he managed to flush a juvenile Cooper's Hawk and, 20 steps further, an unfortunate
Ruffed Grouse who ended up being pursued by the Cooper's! Fortunately, he didn't hear any further ruckus so perhaps it was a
lucky day for the RUGR. Kim spotted a less fortunate bird being defeathered by a crow on a telephone wire. While we're on the
subject of hunting, Nate walked into what he thought were crow hunters raising their own ruckus while knocking back a couple
of early morning brews. Lisa made the astute observation that referring to someone walking around with a gun and drinking at 9am
a hunter is an insult to hunters. Good call Lisa. But Nate did take the time to point out that they shared a friendly greeting. That's
something anyway. Kathleen's close encounter of a human kind was definitely more upbeat - a wedding at Hellcat. Wayne called
it the first modern occurrence at Plum Island.
On the waterfowl scene, Elizabeth had a Common Loon on Onset Bay, Kathleen spotted a Eurasian Wigeon on Plum Island, and
Brian located a couple of Pied-billed Grebes at Burrage. Keelin worked Sandy Neck in search of fall migrants, which undoubtedly
included a good deal of walking through soft sand. On the pelagic front, David had Great Shearwater off Minot Beach. He also
scouted a virtually dry Thompson Pond where he observed not only avian species, but dragonflies and a variety of plants. Lisa
was able to get some phone pics of both peeps and wild mushrooms while Wayne confirmed Brian's photo of Royal Fern.
As the daylight waned, Lisa was at Ellisville where she grabbed a terrific digiscoped pic of a Clapper Rail while Brian spotted
six Common Nighthawks over Burrage with Sandhill Cranes calling in the distance.
- Mary Jo Foti
Photo by David Mehegan Virginia Meadow Beauty
Photo by Brian Vigorito Royal Fern
Photo by Lisa Bryan Schibley Clapper Rail
Photo By Lisa Bryan Schibley Common Bracken
Photo by Carol Molander Painted Turt
Photo by Linda Eyster Great Blue Heron
Linda began her day with sunrise at Moswetuset Hummock, but also checked out the [Kennedy Center] panne at dawn. In the middle was a Great Blue Heron whose lovely blue-gray color contrasted with the pink hues of the water.
